Odisha min says 335 of 444 held in Jharsuguda on suspicion of being Bangladeshi possess fake docu

Bhubaneswar, Jul 10 (PTI) Odisha's Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Thursday said that as many as 335 of the 444 people held in Jharsuguda district on suspicion of being Bangladeshis were found possessing fake Indian documents.

He asserted that the BJP government in Odisha would not allow the state to become a "shelter home" for illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.

Pujari, who held a meeting with senior officials, including the northern division revenue divisional commissioner, Jharsuguda collector and IG of the region, told PTI, "We found that 335 of the 444 people held for verification on suspicion of being Bangladeshis were possessing fake Indian documents. They all have Aadhar card, voter card and other documents showing them as residents of West Bengal." "We have decided to hand over these people to the district collectors of their respective places to which they claim to belong in West Bengal. Let the West Bengal government take whatever action they want to," the minister said, adding that there is a conspiracy to push illegal Bangladeshis into Odisha from the adjoining state.

The minister said that some of those held in Jharsuguda have been released after verification of their documents.

He said that Jharsuguda district has become a favourite destination for illegal immigrants as it is an industrially developed area.

Holding West Bengal's TMC government responsible for the rise in the illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Odisha, Pujari, who was BJP in-charge for West Bengal said, "The place which had once produced the finest revolutionary leaders who fought against the British rule has now become the epicentre of infiltration and terrorism." Earlier, police detained four members of a Bangladeshi family in Paradip town. They confessed to having crossed over to West Bengal, before coming to the port town. PTI AAM AAM ACD